David Cameron is to examine allegations that a senior government official was subjected to "disgraceful and illegal" phone hacking and hostile media briefing while Andy Coulson was Downing Street's director of communications.

The prime minister said he would look "closely" at the claims, raised in the Commons by the former Labour minister Nick Raynsford.

Raynsford told MPs: "The prime minister has repeatedly emphasised that he has no evidence of any complaint or questions about the conduct of Andy Coulson while he was heading the government media service. Will the prime minister confirm that, a year ago, during the period when Mr Coulson was director of communications, the cabinet secretary was alerted to evidence of illegal phone hacking, covert surveillance and hostile media briefing directed against a senior official in the government service?

"What action, if any, was taken to investigate what appears to have been disgraceful and illegal conduct close to the heart of government?"

Cameron said: "I have to look very closely at what the honourable gentleman says. The point I have made – and I have never seen any evidence to go against it – is that in the period that Andy Coulson worked at No 10 Downing Street as head of communications there was no complaint about the way he did his job. I fully accept, I take responsibility for employing him, I take responsibility for that decision."

The Cabinet Office contacted Raynsford to ask him to provide more details of the official's meeting with Sir Gus O'Donnell, the cabinet secretary. Raynsford passed on the name of the official, who does not want to be named, who says he met the cabinet secretary about a year ago.

Raynsford said that Special Branch put a trace on the official's phone and confirmed that it had been hacked. At that point, it is alleged, the hacking stopped.

The Cabinet Office confirmed that the official met Sir Gus O'Donnell, the cabinet secretary. The official, who asked to remain anonymous, requested the meeting after he was the subject of hostile media coverage. A Cabinet Office spokesman denied that the official had told O'Donnell his phone had been hacked.

The official had also not blamed government special advisers for briefing against him or for hacking his phone.

The spokesman said: "The senior official did meet Sir Gus as part of his duties and they did discuss negative media coverage.

"But at no point was phone hacking discussed and at no point were any allegations made against special advisers."